Panasonic DMC-FZ200 with constant f/2.8 lens announced

Panasonic has been making a whole spree of announcements and amongst the plethora of cameras and lenses being announced, we have the new Panasonic DMC-FZ200.

The Lumix DMC-FZ200 fits in the “super-zoom” category of the point-and-shoot and sports a 24x optical zoom (35mm equivalent 25-600mm). With a 12 megapixel CMOS sensor at its heart coupled up with the Venus Engine VII FHD image processor, Panasonic promises stellar image quality.

The FZ200 is a direct replacement for the FZ150, despite sharing a similar sensor size and pixel count. The one feature setting the FZ200 apart from not only the FZ150, but every other superzoom camera in the market right now is the fact that the aperture on the lens maintains at a constant f/2.8 throughout the 24-600mm zoom range. If the constant fast aperture wasn’t enough, Panasonic has even thrown in the Leica branding. Yes, the optics on the Panasonic FZ200 rocks the Leica label along with the nano-crystal coating to minimize flare and ghosting.

Then there is the usual slew of features such as native RAW format support, video recording in full HD (1920x1080 at 60 or 30 fps), built-in HDR mode, panorama mode and a 3D photo mode. The on-camera hot-shoe supports the use of external flash and even external mics for better audio while recording video.

Unfortunately, there is no word on pricing or availability of the Panasonic Lumix DMC-FZ200. All we know is that both these pieces of information will be made available thirty days prior to shipping.